Photo by Bill Shearn
AAA Girls | New AAA arrival, Abington Heights looks to take down Hazleton Area
D2-AAA Girls Team Preseason Rankings
The battle for the lone District 2 AAA got more competitive when Abington Heights was added back into the classification after spending the past few seasons in AA. So this year, we'll have the D2-AA champs in Abington Heights squaring off against the 2015 D2-AAA champs Hazleton Area for a trip to Hershey.
Abington Heights returns its top two and four from last year's team that took fourth in the state in AA. Katie Dammer (above) will lead the way for them and she'll be the favorite to win the individual title and contend for a high place in the state. They also return Alex Scheuermann, who will be an important #2 runner. They'll have to replace the pack of graduated girls that made up their three through five last season, though.
Hazleton returns six of seven from last year. Mary Everdale will lead the way for the reigning champs. It should be a good race between the top two squads, but Hazleton will have to bring its A game on districts day to nab a team spot to states.
Pittston Area and Williamsport are serious contenders as well. Pittston was second by just six points to Hazleton last year, but lost 2015 D2-AAA individual champion Tara Johnson to graduation. They do, however, return the rest of their varsity squad from last season. The emergence of a top girl is key to them contending for the win.
Williamsport will look to be in the mix as well. They return all seven from last year. The wildcard to their success is Nazirah Purnell, who ran a nice race at Lock Haven early in the season last year, but didn't appear much after that. They have a solid group returning and could be a sleeper pick here.